A Scottish Government analysis of the most recent Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index yesterday admitted US perception “deteriorated significantly” over the last two years. The report offered no insight into the decline other than saying US respondents “were generally more critical than in 2010”.

There is only one reason why Scotland’s reputation in the US has fallen – Megrahi

Susan Cohen

But opposition politicians said it showed that Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision to allow Megrahi to return home to Libya caused lasting damage with the US.

Megrahi was freed from his life sentence for the 1988 bombing which killed 270 people after doctors claimed terminal prostate cancer left him with just three months to live. But he survived until May this year and the Scottish

Government’s decision enraged families of the 189 US victims of the outrage.

Susan Cohen, 74, from New Jersey, who lost her only daughter, 20-year-old Theodora, said last night: “There is only one reason why Scotland’s reputation in the US has fallen – Megrahi. I don’t think there is any question at all.”

This year’s Nation Brands Index, which questioned more than 20,000 people in 50 countries, showed the US holding the top spot for the fourth year as the nation with the best overall reputation. Germany was second, followed by the United Kingdom as a whole.

Governments and tourism officials use the index as a guide to improving their reputations and business.

The US findings on Scotland will come as blow to the First Minister, who spearheaded a £468,000 delegation to the Ryder Cup in Chicago.

He also toured the West Coast of the US over the summer to capitalise on the premiere of the Disney-Pixar animated film, Brave, and drum up tourism for Scotland. Scottish Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: “Clearly, Alex Salmond’s numerous US charm offensives have not paid off. Releasing a mass murderer such as Megrahi, claiming he only had months to live in the process, was clearly misguided.

“We still await a full explanation surrounding those circumstances, but the rest of the world has made up its mind.”

Mr MacAskill has repeatedly defended the decision to release Megrahi and recently told SNP conference delegates: “Friends, I am no US poster boy. And I am certainly no US lap dog.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman last night said: “Scotland is world-renowned for its warm welcome and its people. This report puts Scotland in the top 15 of all nations surveyed, demonstrating that our unique identity continues to be well recognised and perceived around the world.

“Scotland’s reputation ranks alongside and often ahead of other small Western nations such as Denmark, Finland, Ireland and New Zealand – despite not currently having the same constitutional status as these other countries.”